


Twenty Seconds

by calico_fiction



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Adolescent Sexuality, Childhood Sweethearts, Cuddling & Snuggling, Internalized Homophobia, Literal Sleeping Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29968134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calico_fiction/pseuds/calico_fiction
Summary: The first time they say it out loud. Kind of.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	Twenty Seconds

They’re twelve years old, and they are best friends. At least Richie thinks they’re best friends. They’ve got Bill and Stan too, the four biggest losers at school all sticking together. Safety in numbers, even though it doesn’t really work. But Richie doesn’t really ever hang out with Bill or Stan one on one. It’s three of them or all four, unless it’s just Richie and Eddie.

It’s just Richie and Eddie a lot. They sneak around sometimes. Sometimes it’s because of their parents. Richie’s dad doesn’t like Eddie specifically, and Richie has stopped paying attention when he says why. Fuck him anyway. And Eddie’s mom doesn’t really like anybody. She’s always worrying. But sometimes Richie and Eddie hang out in secret from Bill and Stan too, and Richie doesn’t know why they do it - just that sometimes, he just wants it that way. For it to be so much just him and Eddie that no one else even knows about it.

It’s like that right now. Richie climbed in through Eddie’s bedroom window five hours ago. He left it open behind him and there’s a gentle breeze, and an owl out there somewhere hooting. Richie had brought over the Spiderman issue with Kraven on the cover because Eddie’s mom wouldn't let him get it, and they’d read it together by flashlight under Eddie’s covers.

Richie knows why he always wants to be around Eddie. But he doesn’t know why Eddie seems to always want to be around him too. Richie’s bothersome in general, and to Eddie especially. That’s not a secret. So it’s weird and confusing, how when they were done with the comic Eddie hadn’t pulled the covers back off of their heads and told Richie to fuck off. Instead he laid down, and pulled Richie to lay down with him, and fell asleep with his head on Richie’s shoulder.

Richie can’t sleep because Eddie’s hair is tickling the underside of his chin, and because sometimes Eddie makes a quiet little snore, and because one of Eddie’s hands has curled around Richie’s wrist and his fingers twitch every few minutes. Dawn is starting to bleed through the thin blanket so that Richie can see Eddie’s sleeping face, and he doesn’t want to close his eyes. Maybe if he stares hard enough he’ll be able to read the answers to all of his questions in Eddie’s pale freckles.

“I like you,” Richie whispers. He just wants to say it out loud, just one time, and then he’ll- he’ll get over it. “I l- I like-like you, Eddie.” Eddie snuffles and shifts, and Richie freezes, his heart nearly beating right out of his chest. But Eddie doesn’t wake up, he just curls a little closer to Richie. Hesitantly, carefully, Richie wraps an arm around him. If Eddie does wake up Richie can pretend that he’s asleep, that it just happened.

“Sometimes I wonder if you even regular like me,” Richie admits next, even quieter than the first thing. “It feels like you hate me sometimes. But that’s probably just me being- ...weird.” Eddie, still sleeping peacefully, offers no reassurance.

It was Friday when Richie climbed inside, Saturday morning now, so Richie actually has the time to fall asleep too - after the sun comes most of the way up and there’s enough light under the blanket with them for Richie to see Eddie’s every feature and to think, just for a moment, about kissing him like the prince in Sleeping Beauty.

Eddie stays still and quiet, breathes deep and evenly, and keeps his eyes carefully closed until he’s sure Richie is finally asleep. He opens his eyes one at a time, cautious and nervous, hoping not to be caught. He roves his gaze over Richie’s thick eyelashes and his strong nose and his kind of girly-looking lips.

“You’re not weird, Richie,” he whispers, and cuddles closer.


End file.
